


[Clever Saying Goes Here] Is Not A Good Way To Flirt

by ambiguously



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, F/M, Kylo Ren Has Issues, May the 4th Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-25 05:03:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10757253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguously/pseuds/ambiguously
Summary: Ten times Kylo failed to say the right thing to Rey.





	[Clever Saying Goes Here] Is Not A Good Way To Flirt

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wednesday](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wednesday/gifts).



"You need a teacher."

The girl is unimpressed. She fights against him, striking out with power he has trouble grasping for his own. The confusion, the pain from his injury, the turmoil in his heart, these are the reasons she bests him. It cannot be that Kylo is the one needing the lesson.

* * *

"You cannot win. Your little Resistance will fall. To spare yourself, your only choice is to join me now."

Rey's mind shuts itself away from him, though not before she thinks a string of very rude words at him. He sees one precious glimmer of her location, green, rocky slopes encircled by a turbulent sea. Then she is gone.

* * *

"Your form is terrible."

They are met across their lit blades again. He has the advantage of training and practice. She has only her few lessons with his uncle. Obviously, he's going to win.

She sweeps his legs from under him and only a swift roll stops her from taking his head off. They are interrupted by X-Wings screaming by. That must be the reason she escapes.

There is no good reason for him to consider the way she moved, nor for him to stand in the same stance as he practices alone long after she is gone.

* * *

"You're not unattractive." No, that won't do. "If you did something with your hair, you'd be very pretty." No. 

Kylo sees Rey's face when he closes his eyes, and it is driving him mad. This thread of connection between them is a distraction, but worse, he's certain that when he kills her at last, he will fatally wound himself. Desire is indistinguishable from need. Kylo needs Rey, and he wants her. He must speak the proper words to make her see reason and come away with him. The next time they meet face to face, he must say the right thing. If only he can figure out what that might be.

"I hate sand." Definitely not.

* * *

"We can defeat Snoke together and rule the galaxy side by side."

She's frowning, trapped at the far side of the collapsed wall, her face just within view. Kylo has the advantage. He ought to kill her.

He's not going to kill her.

"I will never join you," she growls, and Kylo rolls his eyes. They always say that.

* * *

"I will allow your friends to live if you come quietly."

This statement has the benefit of getting Rey's undivided attention, the first time he's managed that trick. He sees the calculation on her face and can't hide the amusement on his.

"You're lying," she says.

"Perhaps." It's a good lingering word, the kind of implication that gets under the skin and gnaws. She doesn't know for sure he'll kill them. She has hope he won't. Honestly, Kylo doesn't care either way. He has only one target in mind today, and not one he intends to slay.

Past where they stand, a cable is unraveling. Dameron and FN-2187 will plunge into oblivion in a few precious seconds. Rey must choose quickly.

There's a loud burst. The box moves to the side of the chasm with a bang, tipping and landing on a solid surface. A short human woman rests the crane she's used. "Rey, I've got them. Come on!"

Rey smiles mirthlessly, and she walks away from Kylo's very reasonable offer.

* * *

"We are connected."

Their weapons are lost in the rocky abyss next to them, both fallen past where either's powers can grasp them. Rey almost fell with them. Kylo reached out with instinct and fear, yanking her to safety. She doesn't understand why.

"We are nothing to each other," she says, the old angers lighting her voice.

"You know that isn't true." He touches her face. She flinches. Then she relaxes as he strokes her cheek.

He feels the stun blast in his teeth, falling over insensate. Unconsciousness claims him just as FN-2187 asks Rey if she's okay.

* * *

"I'm sorry."

He's bleeding from a dozen wounds, but he's bled for her before. Rey didn't give him any of these injuries. That's a step forward. He will not be welcomed back into the First Order, not with the deaths of so many of their upper echelon on his hands. He strips off the black gauntlets, dropping them to the ground. "I'm sorry for all of it."

Rey is still staring.

"Why?"

"Because I should be?"

"No. Why now? You have destroyed so much. You have hurt so many."

"I'm not finished destroying."

She stares at the bodies around them, their uniforms a mess and their faces caught in their last surprise at the betrayal of Snoke's pet. "This doesn't make up for anything you've done."

"What would?"

She doesn't answer.

* * *

"I know the way inside. You don't."

She turns, but her face tells him she knew Kylo was tracking her. Rey shakes her head.

"I have to do this on my own."

"Suit yourself, but you'll never find it without me."

"I don't trust you."

"A healthy attitude." He heads towards the secret passage that will lead them to her destination and his destiny. He turns his head. "Coming?"

She grumbles and falls in step beside him.

* * *

"You've learned so much. I wish it had been from me."

Everything hurts. The lightning from his master's fingers scorched his flesh. He can barely see Rey's face, caught in a sharp frown as she examines his wounds. Snoke is dead, all his plans fallen with him. Kylo can't remember a time when the vague, sinister presence hasn't been lurking in the back of his mind. The release of that pressure eases some of this brutal pain. The knowledge that Kylo himself will die very soon also helps.

"I learned enough," Rey says, still not meeting his eyes.

He reaches for her, but his arm is heavy. He wants her to look at him. Inside her eyes, he always sees every future he could have lived instead of the wretched one he chose. He wants to say so much to her, but words have always been hard for him, especially words to her.

Instead of meeting his gaze for a good-bye, Rey closes her eyes, denying him one last time. That figures. It is only his due.

Warmth grows, starting in his belly and moving out in a shattering wave. Death hurts in ways he has never imagined. Kylo cries out, and his arms spasm, reaching for her and grasping her hand.

The pain is gone, and he can breathe. Rey's eyes open.

"What...." He can feel the health returning to his veins. "You saved me?"

She tilts her head, pleased with herself. "Yes. You're welcome."

This is no spell he ever learned, no training his uncle found in an old holocron or carved into a Temple wall. This is the Force, raw and new, a creation the old Jedi never learned how to manipulate, something the Sith would never dream to try.

"Why? How?" He sits up, and is happy to note she hasn't let go of his hand.

"We are connected," she says.

"I know, but...."

"Just stop talking." She grabs his face and kisses him roughly, and Kylo decides talking is overrated anyway.


End file.
